Having fun while building teams in The Woodlands

Teams race 40-foot long dragon boats during opening day of the annual YMCA Dragon Boat Team Challenge at Northshore Park. This years challenge is Sept. 24-27.

Teams race 40-foot long dragon boats during opening day of the annual YMCA Dragon Boat Team Challenge at Northshore Park. This years challenge is Sept. 24-27.

Photo: Staff Photo By Jason Fochtman

Photo: Staff Photo By Jason Fochtman

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Teams race 40-foot long dragon boats during opening day of the annual YMCA Dragon Boat Team Challenge at Northshore Park. This years challenge is Sept. 24-27.

Teams race 40-foot long dragon boats during opening day of the annual YMCA Dragon Boat Team Challenge at Northshore Park. This years challenge is Sept. 24-27.

Photo: Staff Photo By Jason Fochtman

Having fun while building teams in The Woodlands

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By Joey McAllister

jmcallister@hcnonline.com

No matter the job function or industry, everyone could use a release at work now and again.

Naturally, a market has arisen to take advantage of that niche, providing corporate entertainment in a wide variety of forms that not only bring a little joy to the daily grind but also promote teambuilding among colleagues.

The Magician

One version of corporate entertainment is the hired performer, who presents a stage show to a room full of employees from a given company or industry. Chad Chesmark’s chosen art form is magic.

Chesmark performs much of the year on cruise ships, entertaining travelers at sea. For those shows, his focus is more on getting laughs and he rarely changes the act from show to show. At corporate events, however, he more carefully balances the elements of comedy and magic and he alters the performance to fit the audience.

“I try to customize every show,” he said. “Let’s say I’m hired by a medical association of nurses and they want me to do a show during their annual conference. I will customize the jokes in the show and some of the routines to tie into nursing, so that when they watch the show, they feel that I wrote the whole show for them. Every show is a one-of-a-kind experience.”

One of the challenges that companies face when hosting a convention or banquet, Chesmark said, is the familiarity factor. Attendees often are required to interact socially with people they already see every day, and they’re often reluctant to cut loose and enjoy themselves.

“It’s no different than any other day at the office, other than there’s food and drinks,” he said. “But if I go there, now it’s completely different. They’re relaxed, they’re laughing out loud. That makes them bond, because they’re seeing a show together.”

Chesmark also assists companies by working booths at trade shows. He develops a company’s talking points into a magic routine to attract a crowd and convert them into clients.

“Some companies sell a widget that’s cool, like a ShamWow. That’s cool, you don’t need me. You can wipe up a liter of Pepsi,” Chesmark said. “But if you’re selling a component to a huge machine — a special screw — how are you going to demo that? It’s boring. Let me play a game where 50 people hide it in their hands and I know who has it. That makes it fun.”

The Dragons

One of the most popular corporate activities in The Woodlands is the Dragon Boat Team Challenge, hosted by the South Montgomery County YMCA. This year’s 17th annual event takes place September 24 - 27.

It started with three brackets and about 24 teams and now comprises eight brackets and 118 teams. While it used to begin Friday afternoon and continue through Sunday, it now starts Thursday morning in order to fit all the brackets.

“It’s designed to bring teams together to do something fun and bring something different to The Woodlands,” said YMCA Community Liaison Roxanne Davis. “It continues to grow and to sell out, and we’ve had to expand and get creative to accommodate more teams. It’s hard to tell people no. This is a charity event, so the more money we raise, the more we can help the community.”

Participating corporations are from the greater Houston area, and about 50 - 60 percent of participants live in south Montgomery County.

“It allows adults to get out of their office, come outside and play, meet each other, learn more about each other, build some leadership skills and have fun like kids — things that adults have forgotten how to do,” Davis said. “That’s what the Y is all about: enriching lives, encouraging friendly competition and emphasizing healthy living and social responsibility.”

While staff members may come and go, there are many corporations — such as Memorial Hermann, Woodforest National Bank, The Woodlands Development Company and The Woodlands Township — that have taken part in the races since the very first event. Some began with one team and now enter multiple teams, in order to include all the employees who want to join in.

The event is an opportunity for new companies to network with other organizations in The Woodlands, Davis said, as participants have plenty of time to mingle between races. It’s also a chance for companies to bring together employees who might work in remotely located offices.

“It’s spontaneous. You can’t practice for this, so it’s a unique way of teambuilding,” Davis said, noting that it often brings out leadership qualities in employees who might not otherwise get a chance to show them. “It’s something as simple as learning to row together in the boat.”

Other activities that take place during the event include, among other things, alternative-rules dodge ball and an obstacle course. Each bracket includes 16 teams with up to 50 participants each. At any given time during the weekend, there are 500 - 600 participants laughing, cheering and having fun, and more than 3,500 people attend throughout the weekend.

The South County YMCA also hosts the GE Run Through the Woods on Thanksgiving morning, when more than 6,000 runners — individuals, families and community and corporate teams — come together to kick off the holidays. The newest YMCA community event is Dancing with the Woodlands Stars, at which community leaders dance with professional dancers and viewers vote for their favorite teams. Together, the three events raise more than $300,000 for the South Montgomery County YMCA each year.

“There are so many families within our reach that live below poverty,” Davis said. “Just because they have limited resources doesn’t mean their children can’t learn to swim, go to camp or have a healthy lifestyle. The dollars raised from special events and other things we do allow the Y to provide financial assistance to those families.”

Team registration for the Dragon Boat Team Challenge takes place in July and is closed for the 2015 event. However, the YMCA still is accepting volunteers. Registration for the Run Through the Woods is open. For more information about any of the YMCA’s events or to volunteer, contact Roxanne Davis at 281-681-6730 or rdavis@ymcahouston.org.

The Blank Canvas

Pinot’s Palette offers an opportunity for employees to show just what sort of masterpiece they’re capable of creating as a team. Whether at the Pinot’s Palette studio or via a mobile lesson at the company’s office, participants receive a less from an artist instructor and leave with a unique work of art.

“Everything’s designed for beginners who have no painting experience at all,” said Pinot’s Palette Studio Manager Ashley Dennis.

In the most basic version of the activity, each painter gets a canvas and paints his or her version of an image as directed by the class instructor. One teambuilding variant is what Dennis calls “musical chairs painting,” where participants begin by working on one canvas and then shift to another. At the end of the night, everyone leaves with a piece of art that was created through the work of every member of the team.

Other variants include collaborative painting, where everyone paints a portion of one large canvas, and puzzle-piece painting, where individuals paint smaller canvases that come together to form one large artwork.

Some companies that have participated in painting classes at Pinot’s Palette include Exxon, Anadarko, Global Shop Solutions, HealthSouth and Memorial Hermann.

“We’ve done a lot with The Woodlands Resort, the conference center and La Torretta as well,” Dennis said. “The area’s expanding so much, so we hope to reach out to some of the new companies in the area.”